A word of Torah:    
         After a long time, Jacob decides to return home despite knowing that a confrontation with his brother Esau awaits. The night before his meeting with his brother he sends his wives and children ahead. Jacob remains all alone for the night and once again has an unusual experience.
        “And a man wrestled with him until the break of dawn.” The “man” wishes to leave before sunrise. Jacob won’t let him without a blessing. He responds: “Your name shall no longer be Jacob, but Israel for you have striven (sarita – a play on yisrael/Israel) with beings divine and human and have prevailed.” (Gen. 32:25, 29).
        Who is this “man” with whom he wrestles throughout the night? Is it a being divine or human or both? Is Jacob wrestling with himself? Perhaps he is finally confronting who he is and what he has done. Instead of fleeing from the consequences of duping his father and betraying his brother, Jacob at last is willing to confront himself. He wrestles and comes away stronger from that confrontation.
         The definition of who we are as the People of Israel is that we are wrestlers with beings divine and human. The point isn’t to win. The point is to confront what needs to be confronted, whether that is our inner demons, external evil or even God (as Abraham did at Sodom). It will be painful, but confrontation is an essential part of the journey.
        The next day, when they finally meet, the two brothers throw their arms around each other. The brothers are vulnerable to each other. Esau has forgiven Jacob. Esau invites Jacob to travel with him. It seems a story with a happy ending.
         Yet Jacob responds to Esau’s invitation by telling Esau to go on ahead because Jacob needs to travel more slowly with the women and children in his party. Esau leaves and heads south. Jacob then heads off in the opposite direction. They will meet again only at their father’s funeral. It is a sad moment in the story and yet feels very real. Maybe Jacob thought this reconciliation with Esau would better survive if he and his brother didn’t live together in constant proximity.
         However, the reality is Jacob is not a completely transformed individual. Jacob/Israel has both learned to wrestle and yet at times he will still flee the possible confrontation. This is why the Torah will continue to refer to him sometimes as Jacob and sometimes as Israel. Like Jacob, each of us are made up of conflicting aspects of our personalities.